“How Would That Help Our Work?”: The Intersection of Domestic Violence and Human Rights in the United States

Abstract

This qualitative study explores whether individuals working within the domestic violence (DV) field in the United States have utilized a human rights framework and identifies potential benefits of this framework. Using the critique and experiences of women of color as a focal point, data were gathered through interviews with key individuals working with national and regional DV and human rights organizations. This article focuses on challenges within the mainstream DV movement and how a human rights approach could potentially ameliorate some of these concerns by supporting a more holistic approach to DV and increasing coalition building and community engagement.

Iranian Women's Experiences of Spousal Abuse

“…Comprehension of the individuals' experiences makes us be able to see the world the same as the people whose experiences we have investigated see (Boswell & Cannon, 2014). Such comprehension will lead to the production of science and will help us actually understand the real worries of women who have experienced family violence as well as the spousal abuse phenomenon (Morgaine, 2011). Thus, the present research aims at recognizing and describing Iranian women's experiences of spousal abuse.…”

Human Rights-Based Approaches to Clinical Social Work

“…Morgaine's (2011) research with diverse experts from IPV advocacy groups found that a human rights approach could strengthen the mainstream IPV movement in the United States-a movement that she argues has long grappled with issues of oppression, power, and privilege, especially in relation to racism. Specifically, Morgaine (2011) recommends making the IPV movement more holistic (addressing the complexity and intersectionality of concerns such as the survivor's economic, social, and cultural rights rather than focusing narrowly only on the immediate impact of the violence), more engaging of the community, and with expanded coalition building (including organizing across issues and engaging men as allies). Engaging with the community includes, in part, addressing human rights concerns from the bottom up (Morgaine, 2009) in a grassroots fashion.…”

“…For others, collective action or agency may be most therapeutic and consonant with the expression of their rights, such as participating in the collaborative campaign that resulted in the recent successful reauthorization of VAWA (Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, 2013). Another example of collective agency is the 2002 Human Rights Tribunal on Domestic Violence and Child Custody, symbolically and strategically held at the Massachusetts State House on Mother's Day (Morgaine, 2011;Ford Foundation, 2004). Female survivors of DV documented the severe human rights violations against women and the Massachusetts family court's failure to protect women and their children from battering in the context of child custody matters (Ford Foundation, 2004).…”

“…Much discussion and debate has been devoted in recent decades to what the response should be to IPV, including the legal response (Morgaine, 2011). Holding the perpetrator(s) accountable is generally deemed to be a key component, yet it is also recognized that a number of factors may contribute to the reluctance of some survivors to report IPV including: cultural influences, fear of retaliation from the perpetrator(s), fear that laws protecting them from the perpetrator(s) may not be consistently or adequately enforced making the situation even more dangerous, embarrassment, shame, and concern that they may not receive needed support from law enforcement or others (Black, et al 2011).…”

“…Dominant legal responses in the United States to IPV have been criticized on numerous grounds, including the disproportionate negative impact on males and women of color (Bohmer, Brandt, Bronson, & Hartnett, 2002;Morgaine, 2011;Presser & Gaarder, 2000). Morgaine, (2011) makes a compelling argument that, when the criminal justice system becomes involved in cases of IPV, immigrant communities and communities of color have a more complex situation than some other communities.…”